Donald Frey, the man responsible for the design of the original Ford Mustang, has passed away after a stroke at the age of 86.
The Mustang was a massive hit as soon as it hit showrooms after a debut at the 1964 World's Fair - Ford originally expected to sell 80,000 units a year, but eventually shifted more than a million Mustangs in the car's first two years on sale. The Mustang remains an integral part of the Ford US line-up more than 45 years later.
Frey has been quoted as saying that the inspiration for the Mustang was the Chevrolet Corvair Monza. "I guess in desperation they put bucket seats in the thing, called it the Monza, and it started to sell," Frey in Mike Mueller's book, Mustang: An American Classic. Teasing from his children also provided the spark, apparently, with his kids telling him his cars 'stank'.
New Mustang still owes plenty to 1964 original
You can understand why his kids felt that way - Ford in the early 1960s was still reeling from the PR, design and sales nightmare that was the Ford Edsel.
Frey, then Ford' chief engineer, worked with Ford's General manager, Lee Iacocca, to get the Mustang from green light to production in just 18 months.